Brake



E. C. NEAL Dec. 17, 1940.

BRAKE Filed Mayl e 1957 Dec. 17, 194i E, c. NEAL 2,225,079

BRAKE Y Filed May 6, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet-B "num ` umg:

lllilll H1 A y. M ma. a

E. C. NEAL BRAKE Filed May 6. 1957 3 Sheetssheet 5 Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNITED. STATES PATENT oFF-ICE BRAKE l Ernest C. Neal, Coquille, Oreg. Application May 6, 1937, Serial No. 141,0S8

s;y claims. (o1. iss-15s) Y (f Heretofore in railway brakes, thebraking effort has been applied through theuse of metal to metal usually accomplished through the use of the conventional brake shoe which was made to contact the peripheryV of the wheel to be retarded. In the high speed trains that are being operated at the present time, the engagement of the metals in brake application has generated great heat which in many instances has melted the brake shoe, and has also had a deleterious effect upon the wheel.

My new and improved deviceis' intended to be used as a retarder that may be independently used upon the car Wheels of both freight and passenger cars, or it may be used in conjunction with the present brake appliances and be used as an auxiliary device and be so arranged as to be most effective in the retarding of the rotation of the Wheels during the intial stopping of thefrotation of the wheels.

The primary purpose and object of my invention is to provide a device that may -be used in the retarding of the rotation of car wheels and particularly Wheels of railwayfequipment, as under freight and passenger car Wheels. The braking effort to be applied is obtained from the present air brake applicators, and from appliances that are installed on train equipment.

A further object of my device is to provide a brake retarder that may be installed on any car in a train, either freight or passenger Without in any way affecting the train controland operation whether other cars in the train are so equipped or not. l

A still further object of my invention` is to so construct my device that it may be used with the car being run in either direction Without in any way ailecting the operating eiliciency of the brake.

A still further object of my device is to so construct the device that no abrasive eiect will be applied to the car wheel excepting that of the wheel contacting the rail. My brake uses the hydraulic principle, and through itsruse and application, I place. a Wheelupon the car axle, and I provide a brake Wheel that is rubber tired that is moved into and out of engagement lwith the Wheel disposed upon the car axle. The rubber tired Wheel is mounted upon a shaft upon Which a hydraulic pump is mounted. The pump circulates a fluid in a closed cycle and the freedom of flow of the iiuid is regulated by-a valve that is actuated into open and closed position by present train control brake appliancesnow in general use. Foreign matter is kept out of the brake lany of the conventional means,V as pull cords,

mechanism through the use of a screen that encloses the assembly. A filler cap is provided to facilitate the maintaining of a surplus amount of fluid available for the pumping unit in orderthat the pump cylinder may be automatically maintained full at all times, and with a surplus of fluid being available which will automatically drain into the cylinder if needed.

While I have here shown my used upon railway rail trucks and beingused in conjunction withv wheels and brake shoes I do not wish to be limited in the application of my device to railway use.

The simplicity of the construction and the .A ease of application in applying the same lends the 15 application to all `forms of transportation Where Wheels are used and where the stopping of the same is accomplished throughbrakes of the conventional type. The valve may be actuated b-y device as being 10 pull or push rods and by pneumatic, hydraulic or by electric actuators.

With these and incidental objects in View, the

invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combination of parts,l the es- 'L55 sential elements of which are set forth in theappended claims, and a preferred form of embodiment of which is hereinafter shown with reference to the drawings which accompany and form apart of this speciflcation. @gb

In the drawings: f

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan View of a railway car truck and a plan view of my assembled device shown'installed upon theframe and the car axle ofthe truck.

Fig. 2 is an end View of the car axle and a fragmentary side View of the car truck illustrating in fragmentary side view, my device installed thereupon. This View is taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l, looking in the direction indicated. In this View lib the housing -of the wheel disposed upon the car axle ispartially broken `away to show the construction of the same.

' Fig. 3 is a section front View of the pump cylinder and the rubber covered wheel, illustrating the wheel and the pump as beingk mounted upon a common shaft. This view is taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated.

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view of the pump housl ing and frame for mountingthe pump. In this 50 View the pump housing is partially broken away to ybetter illustrate the construction of the housing and the control valve and port associated therewith. n

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the v`55 yaxle 2.

rubber tired wheel and of the wheel mounted upon the car axle. 'Ihis view is made to illustrate the cooperative effect obtained when the rubber covered tire meets the corrugated surface of the wheel that is mounted upon the car axle.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic layout of the application of the device to the existing manipulative mechanism of the air brakes disposed adjacent to and mounted upon the standard railway truck.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Where my device is to be used on the railway equipment as freight, passenger, work cars of tenders, my device is applied to the wheel supporting truck I. 'I'he axle 2 of the truck is journaled within suitable bearings 3 and 4 that are disposed adjacent the opposite ends of the axle. Flanged wheels 5 and 6 are mounted upon the 'I'he wheel 1 is preferably split into half sections 8 and 9. The half sections are secured together in any suitable manner as through the use of bolts IIJ. One or both of the half sections are keyed to the axle 2 by any suitable key I I.

The Wheel 1 is shrouded at its sides, as illustrated at I2 and I3 to form peripheral ledges about the wheel. I preferably form uniformly spaced corrugations I4 upon the broad surface of the wheel. The inner surface of each of the shrouds I2 and I3 have corrugations I5 that meet and register with the corrugations I4 disposed upon the broad surf-ace ofthe wheel 1. I mount a frame I6 slidably upon one of the transverse brake bars I1 of the truck frame. Within this frame I journal a stub shaft I8. The stub shaft I8 runs transversely of the pump housing I9 and transversely of the brake wheel 20. The shaft I3 is journaled within the frame I 53 at three points as illustrated at 2|, 22 and 23.

The pump housing I9 has a removable face 24 that is secured thereto and removable therefrom through the action of suitable fastening studs or bolts 25. The shaft I8 has a spiral screw 26 disposed thereupon. The screw 26 may be made independent of the shaft I8 and may be secured thereto by being pressed thereon, keyed thereto or it may be cast integral with the shaft. The outer face 21 of the spiral screw is machined to precisely iit the inner face 28 of the pump housing.

Grooves 29 and 3D are machined, or otherwise formed, within the face of the hubs of the screw and compressible gaskets 3I and 32 are placed within said grooves. A gasket 33 is also disposed between the outer face of the pump housing 34 and the inner face 35 of the plate 24. When the nuts 36 are tightened upon the studs or screws 25 the pump housing is hermetically sealed.

The pump housing I9 may be maintained full of operating fluid by communicating a supply tank 31 with the interior of the pump housing. The inlet port 38 is placed within the pump housing. The port is placed at a higher point than that the maximum heighth of the interior of the pump housing.

A valve seat 39 being placed within the port 39. A ball check valve 40 is normally seated thereupon by a compressible element, as coiled spring 4I. Pipe nipples 42 and 43 and an elbow 44 completing the connection between the port and the tank 31.

To aid in the cooling of the pump housing and the operating fluid disposed therewithin I provide a plurality of spaced cooling fins 45 about the outer surface of the pump housing.

A bifurcated pull rod 46 is secured to the air brake operating lever 41 that is normally used in applying the brake shoes 49 and 5I! that are used on the conventional air brake operation.

'I'he bifurcated rods 46 and 58 are hingedly connected to a beam 6I that is hingedly mounted upon any suitable fixed support 60 by a supporting pin 62, with the connection being made by hinged pins 63 and 65.

The pull rod 46 is directly connected to a piston rod, or to a lever actuated thereby, for manipulating the bar 41 to which the brakes are attached. This manipulates the frame IS upon the cross bar I'I and it also maintains the brake wheel 20 out of registry engagement with the wheel 1 that is shrouded and that has corrugations disposed upon the inner face of the shrouds I2 and I3 and upon the inner face 5I of the wheel 1. The braking Wheel 20 is rubber tired as illustrated at 52 and the rubber tire is vulcanized or otherwise secured to the outer surface of the brake wheel 20. The rubber tire is preferably made of extremely tough, highqualitylive rubber of a rubber compound with suitable admixture to make the same tough, pliable, resilient to Wear and having long durability. When the rubber tire is brought into contact with the corrugated wheel 1, the wheel 20 is rotated and the axle I8 upon which the same is mounted is also rotated.

A port 53 is disposed Within the pump housing and a valve 54 runs transversely of the port with a port passage way 55 running transversely of the valve 54 so that when the ports 53 and 55 are in registry with each other, the screw propeller 26 may be freely rotated within the pump housing. But as the valve 54 is rotated to place the respective ports 53 and 55 out of registry, or partially out of registry, a resistance is set up to the rotation of the spiral screw 26 rotating within the housing. The degree of resistance depending upon the amount of closing of the port 53 by the rotation or the partial rotation of the valve 54.

A valve stem 56 passes through the pump housing and an arm 51 is secured to the valve stein. The valve 54 and the valve stem 55 and the arm 51 are actuated by a bifurcated pull rod 58 that communicates movement of the piston rod of the air braking system of the car with the valve 54 by the connected communicating instrumentalities disposed between the piston rod not here shown and valve 54. As the brake shoes 49 and 58 wear, the wheel 20 may form frictional contact with the wheel 1 in advance of the brake shoes being'aotuated in conjunction with the brake wheels. To compensate for this I place a compressible block 59 within the frame I6, which prevents an over-stressing of the rubber tire due to maladjustment of the connecting instrumentalities of the braking system or due to overwearing of the brake shoes or their removal from the brake assembly, or by a falling down of the various devices in the assembly. It will be noted that the rod 4B is threaded into the bifurcated jaw 46A and a lock nut 46B which provides additional adjustment and compensation for the wear of the rake shoes and the adjustment of the associated instrumentalities. It will also be noted that the rod 58 has a bifurcated jaw 58A threadably secured to the rod 58 in the conventional manner and a lock nut 58B locks the rod 58 in adjusted position relative to the bifurcated head 58A. This provides an additional adjustment where the rod 5B connects with the arm 51. The rods 46 and 58 are so connected that when the rod 46 is moved in one direction, the rod 58 may be moved inthe opposite direction.

To prevent foreign matter getting into and contacting the rubber wheel and the abrading of the face of the wheel 'l placed on the car axle I place a screen cover 48 about the assembly comprising the brake wheel that is rubber tired and the Wheel 1. The purpose of the screen is to prevent foreign matter contacting the respective wheels and to also screen the rubber of the tire from light.

While the form of vmechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the embodiment herein shown and described, as it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What I claim is:

1. A pump embodying, in combination, a railway car truck having a brake beam and air instrumentalities for actuating the same, a'car axle, wheels mounted upon said car axle and brake shoes carried by the brake beam for braking the Wheels, a wheel having a corrugated face mounted on said car axle, a frame slidably mounted upon the brake beam of the truck frame and adapted for being actuated by the air brake mechanism of the railway car, a shaft carrying a spiral screw mounted upon a movable frame, a pump housing mounted upon the shaft and encasing the spiral screw in working relationship therewith to cause the screw to act as a pump when the screw is rotating within the housing, a braking wheel mounted upon said shaft and said braking wheel adapted for being actuated into and out of facial contact with the wheel mounted upon the car axle and means associated with the pump housing for setting up a resistance to the rotation of the spiral screw within 'the housing automatically as the brake wheel is moved into facial contact with the wheel disposed upon the car axle.

2. A pump embodying, in combination, a railway car truck having a brake beam and air brake instrumentalities actuating the beam, a car axle journaled within the car truck, wheels mounted upon said car axle and brake shoes mounted within said frame and adapted for braking the wheels, a wheel mounted upon the car axle, a frame slidably mounted within the truck frame,

a brake wheel mounted Within said frame and said wheel being adapted or being placed in registry With and being rotated by the Wheel mounted upon the car axle when in registry therewith and automatic means for setting up a resistance to the rotation of the braking wheel as the brake shoes are moved into and engaged with the car wheels to be braked through the action of the air brakes.

3. In a device of the class described, in combination with a car axle, a corrugated Wheel mounted upon the car axle, a pump shaft mounted adjacent the car axle, a brake wheel mounted upon the pump shaft and normally in spaced relation with the corrugated Wheel and in registry alignment therewith, a fluid pumpmounted upon the pump shaft and instrumentalities for moving the brake wheel into and out of registry engagement with the corrugated Wheel disposed upon the car axle and automatic means for setting up a resistance to the rotation of the pump shaft as the same is moved toward the car axle.

4. In a device of the class described, in combination with a rail car truck having a brake beam and air brake instrumentalities for actuating the brake beam, a car axle journaled within the car truck and car wheels mounted upon the car axle, comprising a wheel to be braked mounted upon the car axle and placed between the car Wheels, a braking wheel adapted forbeing moved into and out of braking engagement with the Wheel mounted upon the axle, and hydraulic actuated instrumentalities for regulating the freedom of rotation of the braking wheel with said instrumentalities adapted for being actuated by the air brake actuators of the air brake system of the car.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pump housing, a screw like pump disposed in the pump housing, a pump shaft for mounting the pump, a wheel having a rubber tire mounted uponthe pump shaft, a wheel supported car axle, a shrouded braking wheel mounted upon the car axle and disposed in registry alignment with the rubber covered Wheel disposed upon the pump shaft, and said rubber covered tire adapted for being moved into and out of registry with the wheel to be braked as the pump is actuated.

ERNEST C. NEAL. 

